6th District Democrats trade barbs in Bedford

In a wide-ranging debate Thursday at Middlesex Community College, four of five Democrats whose names will appear on the ballot in the 6th District primary on Sept. 9 argued that they are best situated to win in November and change the dysfunctional dynamic in Washington, D.C.

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By Kris Olsonkolson@wickedlocal.com

Wicked Local

By Kris Olsonkolson@wickedlocal.com

Posted Aug. 20, 2014 at 9:16 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2014 at 10:12 AM

By Kris Olsonkolson@wickedlocal.com

Posted Aug. 20, 2014 at 9:16 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2014 at 10:12 AM

BEDFORD

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What about that 'other John'?

As Marisa DeFranco was about to give her closing statement at last week's Middlesex Community College debate, she was preempted by Pat Gutta, wife of John Gutta, the fifth Democratic candidate w...

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What about that 'other John'?

As Marisa DeFranco was about to give her closing statement at last week's Middlesex Community College debate, she was preempted by Pat Gutta, wife of John Gutta, the fifth Democratic candidate whose name will be on the 6th District primary ballot. Pat Gutta criticized organizers of the debate, the Lowell Sun and Salem Evening News, for not inviting her husband to take part in the debate while offering business cards with the address of Gutta's campaign website along with other literature to anyone who would take it.

In a wide-ranging debate Thursday at Middlesex Community College, four of five Democrats whose names will appear on the ballot in the 6th District primary on Sept. 9 argued that they are best situated to win in November and change the dysfunctional dynamic in Washington, D.C.

Congressman John Tierney argued that, having turned away the challenge of Republican Richard Tisei two years ago thanks in large part to his organizational and get-out-the-vote efforts, he would be most able to do so again this November. He laid Congress' inability to make progress on any number of issues squarely at the feet of Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans, noting that during his nine terms in Washington, he has also been part of one of the most effective Congress since 1965. The key difference: Democrats were in control.

But challenger Seth Moulton spun Tierney's tough tussle with Tisei — he survived by 4,330 votes — had been counterproductive to the Democrats' cause nationally, diverting resources that might otherwise have been used to help the party regain the control of the House Tierney was arguing was so essential.

Meanwhile, fellow challengers Marisa DeFranco and John Devine made the case that, given the scourge money has become in politics, real change will not come from either Tierney or Moulton, candidates whom they argued are beholden to do the bidding of political action committees and other big donors.

Cost of higher education

The first question put to the panel dealt with student debt and the cost of higher education. DeFranco noted that Congress has focused its efforts on lowering interest rates on student loans, which she called a “typical Congressional non-solution you see every year.” The real problem, said DeFranco, is the cost of tuition.

“Colleges need to get with the program,” she said, adding that access to federal money could perhaps be leveraged to convince universities to keep tuition in check.

John Devine argued that, instead of the government making money on student loans, the proceeds should be “plowed back into education,” everything from money for preschool and K-12 to loan-forgiveness programs for those who perform service work after graduation, particularly in the medical field.

Moulton noted the issue was a personal one for him, as he is still paying back his student loans. He added that since he had taken out his first student loan in 1997 — coincidentally the year in which Tierney was first elected — the cost of college had risen 90 percent. He, too, suggested tinkering with interest rates was not necessarily a panacea. He echoed DeFranco's sentiment that colleges are a big part of the problem, noting a study that showed when Pell grants increased by $5,000, the average cost of tuition had increased by the same amount. To get colleges to toe the line, “real leadership” is needed, he said.

Page 2 of 4 - Tierney said that, while there is more work to be done, he is proud of what he and his colleagues in Congress have accomplished on this front, cutting student-loan interest rates in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, the establishment of an income-based repayment plan, and the cutting out the “middle man” with private educational loans, which he said had saved $60 billion that was then funneled back into the Pell Grant program.

A big part of the issue, Tierney suggested, is a lack of commitment to public education on the state level.

“States need to step up and not take the money and retreat out the back door,” he said.

Crisis in Iraq

Candidates were then asked how they would deal with the current crisis in Iraq. DeFranco, who noted she was the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, said she would reluctantly be in favor of sending a limited number of troops — not 20,000 or 30,000, but perhaps a “targeted 5,000” — to ensure that Iraq does not become a terrorist state. She suggested that a military commitment of that level might have prevented the Rwandan genocide.

“Throwing up our hands and doing nothing is not an option,” she said.

Devine disagreed, saying that while “we certainly need to be vigilant against terror,” he did not believe U.S. troops should be sent but did see a possible role for U.N. peacekeeping forces to quell violence.

Moulton, who served four tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer from 2003 to 2008, said the “fundamental problem is not a military problem but a political problem,” referencing a statement he had issued earlier in the week supporting President Obama's decision to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraqi civilians “in the face of imminent genocide” as the “morally right thing to do,” but expressing reservations about putting American combat troops on the ground or conducting airstrikes without direction from ground forces, which might lead to civilian casualties.

He reiterated that the U.S. should not be propping up the failing Maliki regime.

“If the Iraqis and their security forces have a government they can trust, I am confident they have the personnel and training to combat the ISIS threat on their own,” he wrote in his statement. “A stable Iraqi state that can protect its own borders must be the ultimate goal of our policy in Iraq.”

On this, Tierney seemed to agree, calling the Malaki government “corrupt” and unwilling to work with the rest of the country. The Iraqi army, he said, had been “trained very well” and “did not just melt away” but rather had lost faith in the country's leadership. A united Iraq “can take care of ISIS,” Tierney said.

Page 3 of 4 - While all candidates said that they had opposed the Iraq war — Tierney having been one of the few in Congress to vote against it — Moulton charged that his vote was “not leadership,” suggesting that more could have been done to keep the country from going to war.

Tierney had been “silent on ISIS,” he added, suggesting he needed to “stand up to the administration.” Tierney replied that, as a congressman, “your vote reflects your leadership,” adding that his vote on the Iraq war had been a particularly tough and unpopular one at the time.

DeFranco, meanwhile, chided Moulton for suggesting that Massachusetts' congressional delegation was deficient for not having a veteran among its ranks.

Obamacare

Candidates were also asked about fixing the Affordable Care Act, which DeFranco called the “Unaffordable Care Act” and a “giveaway to the insurance companies.”

She launched an attack — one which Tierney insisted was off base — about the congressman not having paid health-care premiums the last 17 years and added that the Department of Justice could have been doing more to break up mergers in the health-care industry, which have created monopolies and driven up costs.

Devine called single-payer health care “not a bad idea,” given that the U.S. is 37th in the world in delivering health care yet has the most expensive system in the world.

“We need to deliver health care in a more efficient manner and be more productive with the money we spend,” he said.

Moulton called the ACA a “step in the right direction” but “not good enough.”

“If Democrats are going to lead on health care, we need to lead on how health care works,” he said.

He then highlighted a flaw in the ACA, in that it created greater access to primary care while doing nothing to increase the supply of primary-care physicians available to meet the demand for that care.

Tierney expressed optimism about a bill to “fix” Obamacare making it through the Republican-controlled House. He said it had picked up about 45 Republican votes.

“Now, all of a sudden, they see the benefits to the play, and they've gotten on board,” Tierney said, adding that they had moved away from attempts to repeal the law altogether.

He touted some of the law's other benefits, including its support of community health centers like one in Lynn, which later in the day would be holding a ribbon cutting for its new dental unit. He also highlighted the closing of the so-called “donut hole” for prescription-drug coverage for seniors and $180 million in grants the state had received to keep the cost of prescription medication down for seniors.

Page 4 of 4 - Gun control

The last question dealt with gun control in light of the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which prompted the three challengers to mention their personal experiences handling firearms.

Devine, who noted his shooting experience had come through a recreation-center program in his youth, said the Second Amendment is “something I actually support in a sporting context.” When it comes to handgun violence, he said, “I see it as a mental-health issue.”

He made passing mention of smart-gun technology, requiring gun owners to keep their weapons in safes and use trigger locks, but concluded his remarks by returning to mental health, calling for a national policy on the matter.

Moulton declared, “We don't need smart guns. We needed fewer guns.”

Moulton noted that in the Marines he had seen the effects of gun violence firsthand and said the kinds of weapons he and his fellow soldiers had used “have no place on our streets or in our schools.”

He criticized Congress' inability to pass legislation mandating background checks, even though 96 percent of the public supports them.

Moulton pledged to “stand up to the gun lobby” and believed he would be particularly equipped to do so. His military background, somewhat unique among Democrats, he argued, would enable him to “speak the language” of ardent defenders of Second Amendment rights.

Tierney retorted that the issue was “not a problem of language” but rather one involving the grip the National Rifle Association has on his Republican colleagues. He noted that, with more guns than people in the country, it will take a long time to reduce in a meaningful way the number of guns. He implied that Moulton was missing the boat in not seeing the benefits of smart-gun technology, noting that in 17 percent of public-safety fatal shootings, the officer's own gun had been used.

DeFranco said she supported the Second Amendment but, just as “time, place and manner” restrictions had been placed on free speech under the First Amendment, sensible restrictions could be put on gun ownership, including background checks and the closing of the so-called “gun-show loophole.”

She disagreed sharply about gun violence being a mental-health issue, calling people who take guns to schools or movie theaters “murderers” and “criminals.”

“It's a disservice to the mental-health community to conflate the two,” she said.